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Internationally-renowned cellist, Zlatomir Fung, performs Elgar's Cello Concerto with the KSO

Melony Dodson talks with Maestro Aram Demirjian and internationally-renowned cellist, Zlatomir Fung, who performs Elgar's Cello Concerto with the KSO on October 16 and 17, 2025

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra (KSO) presents its next Masterworks concert on Thursday and Friday, October 16 and 17, at 7:30pm. The performance will be given, as usual, in the magnificent Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville. On the program is the Tennessee premiere of Meilina Tsui's Floridian Symphony, Elgar's Cello Concerto, featuring cellist, Zlatomir Fung, and Igor Stravinsky's ballet, Petrushka.

Fung is the first American in four decades (and youngest musician ever) to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division. In the 2024–2025 season, Fung gives recitals in New York City, Boston, and St. Louis, and performs the complete Bach Cello Suites in Worcester, Massachusetts and in Arcata, California. Additionally, he returns to the Aspen Music Festival and makes his debut at the Ravinia Festival. In January 2025, Signum Records released Fung’s debut album, a collection of opera fantasies and transcriptions for cello and piano. Fung served as Artist-in-Residence with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the 2023–2024 season, touring the UK with the orchestra. Other notable appearances of late include his debuts with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, and BBC Philharmonic, as well as the Baltimore, Dallas, Detroit, Seattle, Milwaukee, Utah, Rochester, and Kansas City Symphonies. 2024–2025 marked Fung’s first season on the cello faculty at his alma mater, The Juilliard School.

Tickets and additional information for this MoxCar Marketing and Communications Masterworks Series Concert at https://knoxvillesymphony.com/concert/elgar-cello-concerto/

Melony calls the beautiful mountains of Boone, N.C., home, although she was born near Greensboro, N.C. There’s just something about those Blue Ridge Mountains that got in her blood and never left after she moved there to attend Appalachian State University (ASU). While at ASU, she majored in piano performance and music therapy and began to cultivate a love for accompanying and for collaborating with other musicians. This soon led her to earn a master’s degree in collaborative piano at the University of Tennessee, which she attended from 2006-2008.